The ongoing pantomime with the Scottish Government and Westminster around parties held in Downing Street during the Covid crisis is a distraction from the real issues people are facing.

Clearly the Prime Minister believes he isn’t subjected to the same rules as the rest of us and it is embarrassing to see his obfuscation despite the evidence to the contrary.

Numerous testimonies of families losing loved ones during the worst of the pandemic and not being able to be with them in their final moments are heartbreaking to read – and the clownish antics of the Prime Minister adds insult to their loss.

The Scottish Government, though, is not without sin. In May last year, Patrick Harvie, Ross Greer and Lorna Slater were photographed in a pub in Edinburgh during the lockdown in Glasgow with a fourth person, in breach of the rules that were in place at the time.

Months later they were rewarded with ministerial positions in the Scottish Cabinet, so forgive me for pointing out the hypocrisy of some of the posturing the public are being subjected to.

It seems politicians of all persuasions have a touch of Boris Johnson’s entitlement.

And all the while the cost of living crisis grows, engulfing more citizens in the storm of poverty.

Eye watering increases in energy costs and weekly increases in food costs have already plunged household budgets into the red, and we are told it will only get worse.

This crisis did not suddenly happen; it has been predicted for some time. Where is the planning on mitigation, where are the measures to address and prevent further distress for those financially struggling?

Where are the measures to protect ordinary people from the colossal greed and exploitation of private energy companies, who behave like highway robbers, solely focussed on increasing their profits and to hell with the impact on people?

Scotland likes to think of itself as a modern, inclusive country. Yet poverty, the biggest driver of inequality, continues to blight our nation.

A one-off payment of £150 towards council tax costs for lower band homes is a drop in an increasingly stormy ocean, and it won’t address the bigger issues families are facing.

Meanwhile, local authorities are tasked with delivering front line services and with responding to people in crisis. This is a task which becomes harder each year as budgets continue to be cut and front line services come under increasing threat.

It’s time to ditch the performative politics and for our elected representatives do what they were tasked to do when elected – address the pressing issues facing our country.